Health Education HW
ned.kh
ph_484_chapter_11-_2015.pptxChapter 11
Advancing Health Equity Through Public Health Policies
The Role of Public Health Policy
Determination of disparities in health status
Access to health care
Identify problems in the decision-making equation responsible for health policy
Dispel the notion that decision making in public service at the managerial level is largely a neutral and valueless exercise, while in fact it is requires policy choices that improve the health of populations
Public health practitioners’ role in policy formulation is instrumental in affecting the distribution of resources that can diminish health inequities
Health Equity
Heckler Report / The first U.S. government’s report that comprehensively addressed the issue of racial and ethnic disparities, 1985
60,000 excess deaths due to health disparities (mostly African Americans)
Helped to establish the Office of Minority Health
Health Equity
In 1998, President Clinton, through U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, announced an initiative establishing a national goal of eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health status by 2010
In 1999, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was directed by Congress to annually provide a report that monitors “prevailing disparities” associated with race, ethnicity and economy in “priority populations”
CDC Health Disparities & Inequalities Report, 2011: Executive Summary Report
Read the above Executive Summary Report
Social Policies (Evaluated on their effect on health equity)
Should address the root causes of racial, ethnic and geographic disparities
Decision makers’ orientation and ideology are important in forming policies
Principles that guide public health practice must be based on:
Social justice
Evidence-based public health
Knowledge of the social determinants of health inequity
Recognize the socioecological framework of health equity
Adhere to the public health code of ethics
